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mae.johnny

2/19/2014

1

I wish there where negative stars to use for ratings. I did not want to give this resort one star but I had to in order to leave a review. This had to have been the worst customer service experience of my life.

My husband and I had been planning for awhile to spend a weekend at the Grandover as we had heard many rave reviews from our friends. So what better time than Valentines Day weekend, right? Of course! We booked our stay two weeks in advance for a two night stay; Friday and Saturday night. We arrived on Valentines afternoon at 2:30 pm (check in is at 4 pm). We had massages scheduled at 3 pm, so we arrived early for them. We checked in but before taking our bags to our suite (suite is an understatement, it was more like a room) we got our volcanic stone couples massages. The spa staff was awesome, very polite and helpful because it was our first time there. The atmosphere was relaxing and soothing. Refreshments (trail mix and strawberries) were tasty and the cucumber water was good and crisp. The massages themselves were ehhh... ok. It was my first hot stone massage so maybe my expectations were a little high. Once the massage was over we decided to take our bags to our room. Upon entering the room it appeared a little small. The carpet was worn and needed to be replaced. The bed was okay as for comfort.

My husband needed to charge his phone as he was expecting a business call. He plugged in his charger and it did not work, no charge. So he tried a different outlet, still no charge. So I closed the drapes and turned on a lamp in search of another outlet... the lamp did not come on. I then tried another lamp, no light. I said I think the power is out. My husband stated "no way!" So I grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. Nothing. My husband called the front desk and explained we had no power in our room. The front desk rep Ramona stated "yes we know, we are working on it and it should be back on in a few moments." My husband then asked "well how long has it been out?" She then replied, "all day." Mind you there was power in the restaurants, the spa, the lobby, and the hallways.

I thought no big deal they are working on it and it should be back up in a few per Ramona. I was being hopeful as I had been looking forward to this trip for awhile. My husband decided he would go to the car and wait for his call using the car charger to charge his phone. I stayed behind in the room and decided to do some work on my iPad while we wait for our dinner reservation (at 8:30 pm) or the power to come on, whichever came first. I pull out the pamphlet showing instructions on how to connect to the complimentary wifi. I follow the instruction exactly, no connection. I called down to the front desk and asked if there were issues with the wifi and if I were connecting correctly. The rep (not Ramona) stated the wifi is not working today. I said okay thanks and hung up the phone. It was getting closer to time for dinner and the sun had surely gone down but no power. I decided to shower before dinner and change into something more presentable. At this time I am using the flashlight app on my cellphone.

I get into the shower only to find there is no hot water after shaving my legs so I had to endure the cold shower to get my shaving cream off. By this time my husband is back and I tell him there is no hot water. We discuss it and decide we would checkout and go home (1 hour away in Charlotte N.C) due to the no Internet, no power, and no hot water issues.

We get to the checkout desk and explain we want to leave. Sara Yancey (front office manager) offered to put us up at the Sheraton downtown Greensboro, which she described as 10 minutes away. Being from the area, I know the Sheraton is 20 minutes away from the Grandover. I then explained that I had stayed at the Sheraton many times and I am not interested in staying there tonight and I would not be willing to pay the rates of the Grandover for the Sheraton. She then stated we could stay here (the Grandover) in the dark at the same rate, go to the Sheraton at the same rate, or leave and receive a voucher in the mail in about four to six weeks for a two night stay in the future. I then asked are there any blackout dates for the voucher. She said yes but she was not sure what they were and it would be explained in the voucher. I then said no thanks. We will just go ahead and have dinner and then we will leave. Oh yeah... the valentines night dinner was included in our room rate for that evening. Sara then stated because we are not staying we can not have dinner in the resorts restaurant (Di Valletta). I then expressed to her we have no where else to have dinner as we expected to have dinner here, we made no other reservations. Would it be okay if we just had dinner and then left. She then stated we are more than welcome to have dinner at our reserved time but at our expense. I then expressed that the least you could do to accommodate us after this fiasco is comp a dinner. Sara then said I am not authorized to comp you anything. I then said who is? She then gave me a business card for the general manager (Syed H. Katawazi).

We got our things and went to our car. My husband was fuming so he decided to call the general manager and express his disbelief and disgust. Syed did not answer so my husband left a message. Syed called my husband back after we were about 30 minutes away to say that the power was back on and we could return. My husband then took this opportunity to explain we were to far away to turn around, we missed our dinner reservations, and the flippant attitude of his front desk manager Sara was unacceptable. Syed did not apologize for Sara nor did he offer anything as compensation for the inconvenience of us expecting something that was promised but not delivered, our time lost for driving back and forth, our hunger and challenge of finding a decent place to eat on Valentines night with a wait under 1 hour. Syed stated if we did not want to return to the resort and pay full price at the rate we made the reservation there was nothing else he could do for us.

I hope this review helps someone. I promise I will NEVER EVER spend anymore money with Grandover Resort again in my life and hopefully in my children's lives and anyone in my family's lives . People should not be allowed to be so rude and in the hospitality business. If I am inconvenienced at McDonald's or WalMart I receive better customer service and more willingness to make it right and if they aren't able too they offer me something better. I expect the same from a supposed to be four star resort if not better.